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Thank you very much for your interest in NAIHC. We are a 501(c)(3) nonstock nonprofit organization and appreciate any and all donations/contributions.

If you wish to contribute to NAIHC so we may continue with our vision, please make your check payable to NAIHC and send to:

NAIHC

PO Box 232

Oregon, WI 53575

Again, thank you very much for your support.

Erwin A. "Bud" Sholts, Chairman

North American Industrial Hemp Council

In Memoriam – Bill Holmberg, 1928-2016

NAIHC.org, Washington, Sept. 14, 2016 – NAIHC greatly regrets the loss of Bill Holmberg and sends its condolences to his family. Lt. Col. William C. Holmberg (USMC retired) died Sept. 8 after a several-year battle with cancer – a battle which he never allowed to slow him down.

With his leading roles in a broad range of environmental and bioenergy organizations, Bill was a co-founder of ACORE, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and an active member of the NAIHC board. He worked hard to bring different groups together in support of creating a more sustainable world. He championed the cause of “biorefineries” designed not only to bring new prosperity to rural America but to help the developing world leapfrog beyond the industrial world’s costly investments in fossil fuels.

After his hardscrabble childhood in Washington state, Bill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and led Marine combat missions first in Korea and then in Vietnam, earning the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for his valor under fire. After retiring from his 21 years in the Marines, he held prominent positions in the Department of Energy and U.S. EPA, always focused on helping Congress, policymakers and the public understand the need to build a more sustainable “bio-based” world. DOE acknowledged his work by awarding him its “Biomass Energy Program Distinguished Service Award” in 2002.

DEA Recognizes Existence of Industrial Hemp

NAIHC.org, Washington, August 17, 2016 – I am very pleased to report that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has officially recognized “industrial hemp” – and on the home page of their website no less, leading readers to the latest DEA news on marijuana and industrial hemp.

As a matter of law, industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa with <1% THC by dry weight, the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana) has long been lumped into the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 definition of “marihuana.”

Since its establishment, NAIHC has sought to remove industrial hemp from the federal drug schedules, including recently being lead petitioner on an official rulemaking petition under the federal Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. The petition asks DEA to exempt industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana.

Reasons to Legalize Industrial Hemp

NAIHC.org, Washington, August 1, 2016 – Here are links to key sections of the 183-page petition filed by Andy Kerr of The Larch Company, Courtney N. Moran of EARTH Law, the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC), and other petitioners asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “to remove industrial hemp from the federal drug schedules.”

Petition to Legalize Industrial Hemp

NAIHC.org, Washington, June 12, 2016 – A coalition of farmers, state legislators, a former U.S. Attorney, scientists, merchants, entrepreneurs, and environmentalists filed a formal petition Friday asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration “to remove industrial hemp from the federal drug schedules.” By law, DEA must answer the petition in a reasonable amount of time.

Supporting the petition, former United States Attorney for the District of Kansas Barry Grissom said that “It is a misallocation of law enforcement resources to continue to pretend that industrial hemp is a drug.”

For details about the petition, go to:

a summary (first 15 pages) of the administrative rulemaking petition to DEA

States Race to Grow Industrial Hemp

NAIHC.org, Washington, Nov. 10, 2015 – Kentucky leads the race to commercialize industrial hemp, as confirmed yesterday on Veterans Day when an American flag made from Kentucky-grown and –sewn hemp flew over the U.S. Capitol. But North Carolina is determined to catch up ASAP.

North Carolina has surged forward now that its Senate Bill 313, the Industrial Hemp Research Act, is law. The new law which went into effect Oct. 31 establishes that: “it is in the best interest of the citizens of North Carolina to promote and encourage the development of an industrial hemp industry in the State in order to expand employment, promote economic activity, and provide opportunities to small farmers for an environmentally sustainable and profitable use of crop lands that might otherwise be lost to agricultural production.”